If you’ve been on LinkedIn long enough, you’ve probably been asked to write a LinkedIn recommendation for an employee, coworker, or collaborator at some point. Whether you’re using LinkedIn Premium or not, these endorsements make your work history richer and builds professional credibility.
A succinct LinkedIn recommendation could give a colleague or former employee a real edge when recruiters are looking at their profile. However, it’s not always a simple task to squeeze in all the professional skills you admire about someone in a short paragraph. In fact, you only have about 3000 characters of space to work with so enlisting the aid of a good automation tool could be helpful.
How to write the best endorsements (including examples)
If you’re worrying about how each sentence sounds, don’t. Not yet, anyway. With any piece of writing, it’s helpful to write freely and then rewrite at the editing stage to make the copy stand out. These tweaks make all the difference and when in doubt, you could turn to an efficient, objective AI tools to offer you sound advice.
1. Start with a line that commands attention
You need managers and potential employers to want to read the entire endorsement. The first line should stand out and be noticed. Steer clear of words and phrases like ‘the best’ or ‘our go-to person for…’ Employers have read this one too many times and it’s unlikely to hold their attention. Instead, try to approach the compliment from a different angle.
- It’s a rare privilege to work with a talent like Stacey’s.
- Few people can say that they report to a superior who is a patient and understanding guide – but I did when I worked for Susan.
- Outstandingly resourceful is the phrase that pops to mind when I think of Mark’s contributions to our project.
- Team management is not for everyone, but Steve takes to it naturally. He has the innate ability to put people at ease and command respect.
Simplified’s AI can help you write out an eye-catching statement to start off your LinkedIn Recommendation.
Bonus: 14 Creative LinkedIn Banner Ideas That Will Make Your Business Stand Out
2. Outline the context of your relationship
How do you know the person you’re endorsing? Mention when you met them, where you met them, and what you all worked on together. Keep it concise, you don’t have to go into all the details because both your LinkedIn profiles will elaborate the same. It is key to make it clear that you have the position/qualifications to write the recommendation. Here are a few excerpts from LinkedIn recommendations.
- I brought Mingus on board after being impressed by his online portfolio. It was one of my best decisions as team leader. With 3 projects now behind us, I have never witnessed a dip in the excellent quality of his work.
- Gwen has skillfully executed all the duties that her role as Social Media Manager at Squareworks called for. In the 6 short months she has been with us, we’ve already seen a jump in our engagement.
- It has been a joy to work with Reina for the last year. We have collaborated on several projects in this time and each interaction has been highly professional and impactful.
- Since I hired Louis, I have watched him beautifully balance the many demands of his role as Manager at Obelisk.
3. Highlight one or two traits that make the person stand out
There are probably several qualities that you want to draw attention to about the person you’re recommending. It could be that they have excellent interpersonal skills, are highly efficient, very organized, and so on. Since space is limited, it is best to focus the endorsement of one or two relevant skills. If you’re not sure which ones to choose, you could ask the person which skill they’d like highlighted to contribute positively to their profile. They will probably tell you based on the role they’re now hoping to secure. For instance, an assistant applying for a management role may want you to highlight their organizational skills or their managerial abilities.
- Kevin’s keen sense of organization served him very well in his role. Despite perpetually having to juggle many tasks, he was able to track and progress each more than satisfactorily.
- Jim showed me right off the bat that one of his greatest strengths is client relations. This usually takes several years to build and grow but Jim is a natural.
- Angela has the incredible ability to command the attention of a room. Everyone present is keen on listening to her pitch and present at a meeting.
- With excellent interpersonal skills, Joey has the rare ability to broker peace and skillfully mediate meetings.
4. Elaborate on the person’s personality
Add a little bit about what your colleague or employee is like on a personal level. While people want to hear about an employee’s skills and abilities, they also want someone easy-going and unproblematic to work with. If they’re friendly and fun, that’s definitely a bonus!
- Monday morning meetings were made infinitely more inviting thanks to the coffee Sheila so thoughtfully brought in.
- We can only hope that we can find as skilled a player for our football team!
- Ralph always made sure that every voice or opinion was heard at the meeting.
- Kal’s tasty contributions to team potluck lunches will be missed!
Bonus: 7 Linkedin recommendations generator tools for crafting powerful endorsements
5. End the recommendation with a metaphorical thumbs up!
You’re just reinforcing the endorsement here so you don’t have to add anything heavy – keep it brief and make your point.
- I firmly believe that Charlotte would be an asset to any team she joins.
- Noel would make an excellent leader in the field of his choice; he has my complete recommendation.
- I wholeheartedly endorse John for the position he is applying for.
- Lisa would be an asset to any team she chooses to join.
Once you have all the parts of the recommendation down, read through and edit it as required. Following these easy steps should cut down the time you spend on writing LinkedIn recommendations and offer you more impactful pieces to publish. Here’s an example of a full LinkedIn recommendation for a colleague:
How do you keep a 30-member strong team on track? Bill has the answer. We worked together for 3 months to launch x product and I was continually impressed with his management skills. Besides his obvious tech expertise, he was able to keep us all going through unexpected challenges and the usual supply chain snags. We left our weekly meetings feeling recharged and with a renewed commitment to doing this job well. I readily recommend Bill to any company that needs a project manager!
If you’re in a leadership position, you may be inundated with requests for LinkedIn recommendations. Simplified offers you several templates and LinkedIn recommendation samples to choose from or derive inspiration from. This can help you get those testimonials out of the way in no time!
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Can automation tools help with your work on LinkedIn? They certainly can! Yes, that’s right. You can use AI for more than just marketing campaigns. These platforms are equally efficient with everyday tasks like managing your personal branding on LinkedIn.
With platforms like Simplified, the writing becomes effortless and you just have to figure out the best times to post on LinkedIn. Whether you’re writing an article, or a recommendation, or need to manage the weighty task of publishing for your company’s page – Simplified has your back.
